In the last few years, David Coverdale has been quite busy rehashing old material, but in a good way.  He has brought us deluxe box sets for albums such as ‘Slide It In’, ‘1987’, ‘Slip of the Tongue’ and even ‘Unzipped’ the all acoustic box set.  And next year in 2021, we will get ‘Restless Heart’.  But for now, he is rehashing old material yet again.

This time it is a series called ‘Red, White & Blue’ Trilogy.  The Rock Album (White) is up first and then we will get The Love Album (Red) in October and I believe The Blues Album (Blue, duh) in February 2021 (Tentative dates right now).  Each album is really a glorified greatest hits albums each with its own them and the titles give you those themes quite nicely.

The big difference on these albums is more than just a remastering.  The songs have been tinkered with and given a little touch-up with some re-mixing and even a little touch-up on arrangements and other little surprises.  The songs aren’t completely re-imagined, thankfully it is no Bon Jovi “This Left Feels Right”.  The songs are still very much recognizable, just enhanced ever so slightly.

The Rock Album is 16 tracks and includes one brand new track that is a leftover from their latest album ‘Flesh & Blood’.  Really though, you could say there are three new tracks as it depends on what versions of Whitesnake albums you have.  There is one song off the ‘Restless Heart’ box set that has not yet been released and there is one song from the Japanese Edition of ‘Restless Heart’ which is not the edition I own.  So, I have 3 new tracks on this album.  Now, if you aren’t familiar with ‘Restless Heart’ or even David’s solo album, ‘Into the Light’, then there are more tracks that might feel new.  Either way, there is a lot of music on here.

A note about the songs as well.  The songs cover from the albums, ‘Slide it In’ all the way to the left over track from their latest ‘Flesh & Blood’.  You won’t get any earlier Whitesnake tracks as sadly, David doesn’t own those tracks (which is the reason why no box sets from those earlier albums).  It is disappointing, but I know David loves those songs, he just doesn’t own the tapes to be able to tinker around with them.  Maybe someday, the label that owns them will partner up with David and we can get some updated tracks.

I am not going to go through each and every song and tell you what has changed on each song because I think that would be tiresome and boring.  The songs aren’t changed that much.  But it was fun to hear little changes such as a longer extended ending, or extra vocals added or even another layer of guitar recorded and added in.  They even recorded more keyboard sounds and add some heavier drum sounds and I believe the bass was turned up a little on one track.  I don’t want to tell you which ones, as I want to leave that enjoyment up to you…but they are there.  I will talk about the 3 songs that are “new” to me.

First up is “Anything You Want” off the Japanese edition of ‘Restless Heart’ (which I need).  The song came out in 1997, but could’ve easily been on either ‘Slide it In’ (1984) or ‘1987’ (in well, 1987).  It does have some great guitar playing and a good beat, but lyrically, lacking.  The guitars were actually replaced with Joel Hoekstra’s playing and the keyboards were updated by Derek Sherinian.  There are some soulful women doing the background vocals and I am guessing they were on the original, but you never know.  Joel also boosted the guitars on the title track ‘Restless Heart’ as well, but it is Adrian’s solo.  That stayed the same.

Up next is “Can’t Stop Me” now which will be on the deluxe edition of ‘Restless Heart’ so this I am assuming is a leftover track.  This is a beast of a track. Hard driving, energetic and David’s confident vocals full of his “cock rock” chest beating.  There is another great guitar solo and the drums are pounding making this song a total treat.

The totally new track is “Always the Same” which was left off ‘Flesh & Blood’.  The song starts off slow with David singing a little softer, the song kicks in a little more and has some heavy drum sound, but isn’t a full on rocker as I expected being ‘The Rock Album’.  It is a decent track, but not as good as most of what was on ‘Flesh & Blood’ so I see why not included.  Still decent,  but not one of my favorites on this release.

I think the really cool songs on here are the lesser known tracks such as “She Gives Me” off David’s solo album ‘Into the Light’.  That whole Coverdale/Page vibe of the song is killer and I never tire of that sound.  I also really like “Can You Hear the Wind Blow” off ‘Good to Be Bad’ which is another rocker with some nasty guitar sounds that get the juices flowing.

Since this is basically a glorified greatest hits compilation, I will treat it as such so no track score.  As a greatest hits album, it is great set of songs from 1984 up to today so I have no complaints with it for that reason.  It covers a ton of Rock tracks from the their heyday and beyond and since a Love Album and Blues Album will be out with all their other hits, this is perfect for if you want to rock out.  However, as an album, I don’t think we really needed re-mixed songs with slight changes here and there.  That part is a little unnecessary for me.  I found the album had a few “ehh” moments that were dull,  but overall, it is a fun listen when I thought of it strictly as a greatest hits compilation and that is ok.  I was going to score this low marks at first, but the more I listened, the more I enjoyed it and when I get the other 2 sets in the series, I think this will be a really cool greatest hits set with more tracks than you can imagine. I will give it a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars as I think you will find it enjoyable overall.

And that is it for the David Coverdale Series…for now.  In October/November, I will be back with a review of ‘The Love Album’ and later ‘The Blues Album’ and for any other Whitesnake releases (or Coverdale). Hell, I will probably come back down the road and actually review the Live albums I missed as well. I hope you enjoyed the series as much as I did.  It almost took a year to get through all of them as I started in August of last year.  Now all that is left are the Album Rankings…yes, plural.  Whitesnake only rankings and then a complete Coverdale ranking.  Thanks again!!

Up next…Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

The David Coverdale Series:

1. Deep Purple – Burn
2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
14. Deep Purple – Live in London
15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)